If this generation truly wants to eliminate discrimination for the LGBT community, the first and most effective way would be to educate. We often hear the everyday struggles of being a homosexual but few of us know how this minority fought for their basic human rights from the very beginning when society was more closed to their grievances.
The Huffington Post posits the question, "If LGBT rights are civil rights, why don't we teach LGBT history in schools?" According to the publication, the history of the LGBT community deserves to be studied alongside the histories of other marginalized groups because their struggles as humans are also real and important.
Teaching LGBT history would help students who feel different know that they are not alone and predecessors have fought for their rights to be different without judgment. In the larger scale of things, educating students about the LGBT community would make them more open to difference and become more tolerant of their LGBT brothers and sisters (via The Huffington Post).
As per Los Angeles Times, the California State Board of Education recently reached a final unanimous vote for the inclusion of LGBT people and their struggles in the state's public school curriculum. The stories of the LGBT would be taught in selected elementary, middle and high school grades. The aim is to acknowledge the contributions made by the LGBT community and make the students more understanding of diversity.
According to International Business Times, California is the first state to implement such a curriculum. It comes during the time of gender-related bills such as the Transgender Bathroom law in Fort Worth allowing students to use the bathroom of their choice (via Parent Herald). Another is the Orlando shooting in a gay club that created among homosexuals a fear for their lives, that this kind of hate crime still exists in modern society (via Parent Herald).
Do you think that other states should follow California's example and start teaching LGBT history in schools now? Comment your thoughts below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
